Sorry, Faldage. I was kidding around with wwh and he knew I was kidding around with him. Yes, I just entered *im into Onelook and hit the 'common words'--but just for fun. I figured you Latin scholars would come in with correct responses anyway. You and everybody around here must know by now I know nothing about Latin. I'm very sorry to have caused a problem and will delete everything I wrote in order to purify the thread again.

>I don't mind threads going off in all directions, but when someone asks a question…

as a rule, I agree with this. but in this case, the question didn't seem all that weighty in the first instance, having been posed without much context (e.g., from where was legitim gleaned? what prompted the question? what is the significance of the suffix?).

my -in-cheek response with the initialism might have been construed as waffling, but has now been rendered moot and I shall delete that also.

addendum: Coffeebean has shown that my reaction to the question was probably misguided. so it goes.

Dear tsuwm: I have stated repeatedly that the words I post here are from theScripps-Howard spelling bee list, to which I posted URL a couple times.Again I say I thi;nk "legitim" was a typo. At least it provoked some discussion,and some nice posts by Coffeebean, to whom I drink only with my eyes,the brew she evidently enjoys.

Dear CB: I'm wrong about "legitim" having been a typo. I searched again and found two sitesthat used it, but not as an adverb. One gave sort of a definition:"LEGITIM: That part of an estate over which the testator has no power of disposal if there are forced heirs, the latter beingalways the children and generally the surviving spouse. Some laws include the parents and other ascendants or descendants."

Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.